Massachusetts Reports Job Growth Everywhere Except For The Pittsfield Area

The Massachusetts economy has been slowly recovering, but some towns in the western part of the state are still struggling to add jobs and reduce unemployment.

Massachusetts reported job gains last month everywhere except for the Pittsfield area, a region in western Massachusetts that includes 14 towns stretching from Hancock to Becket.

Massachusetts labor secretary Rachel Kaprielian says her department is digging a little deeper to find out what jobs were lost in the region.

“It’s hard to get too granular but we do see segments that gained and segments that lost,” says Kaprielian. “One of the areas that lost was construction, and we’re hoping that will be adjusted upward as we move into the construction season.”

Kaprielian says the state is also working to add jobs by bringing growing industries like advanced manufacturing to the Berkshires. One possibility local officials are hoping for — the MBTA upgrade that calls for over one hundred new rail cars to be assembled somewhere in Massachusetts.